The Official 2004 Tour de France Thread

Well we had a good thread last year about the TdF. So let's hear it. Time for all the Lance fans and haters and Jan Ullrich fans etc...to speak up. Armstrong got off to a good start in the prologue, coming in second and 15 seconds ahead of Ullrich.

He'll probably have a similar showing as last year...not in the lead in the early and sprint stages, kick a$$ and pull ahead in the mountains and then whether he breaks the record or not with a 6th win will come down to the final stages. He wasn't looking near as good last year as he previously had and I think that motivated him to go balls out in training this year. I think he'll break the record unless he encounters a serious injury.

And please...if you're a Lance hater and don't want to see him win then please explain why. Personally I think it's always cool to see someone break a major record in sports.

Well the big news from the 3rd stage was that Iban Mayo fell on the cobblestones and lost almost 4 minutes. Armstrong is currently in 5th at 16 seconds behind...which seems about right for him at this early stage. Ullrich is 31 secs behind at 18th place overall. He and Lance finished the 3rd stage at about the same time.

After the 4th stage, the team time trials, Armstrong is now wearing the yellow jersey.

brad cook

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Ahhhh yeah! Another Lance fan here. I wish I wish I wish I had cable. Who has the polka dot jersey? After doing my AIDS ride, I'm hooked. Outside magazine has a great issue mostly devoted to the Tour and its riders. A friend of mine wrote one of the articles.

I became a Lance fan last year. I attended a management seminar where they showed this documentary on Lance, a cancer survivor. What he puts himself through to prepare for this race is beyond amazing. I have never seen a finer example of persistence and self determination.

Whats Up with this years rule changes? they created a rule that directly effects armstrong (historically the strongest team time trialer)More than anyone else.

Aj

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This sometimes happens in sports where one person dominates for a long time. It happened in the PGA with Tiger Woods and now it's happening with Lance. There's the added problem for Lance that the international community has a big say in it and wants to see someone else win.